An Act of Honor
by Blade bane
Summary: One final sparring match, the last needed in order to have recognized training in the art of an Energy Blade. Action experimentation scenes mixed with reflections of a Sangheili, my first attempt at fan fiction. Chapter 2 now complete, R&R please!
1. Chapter 1

First story written here, lets see how it goes, shall we? Hope the actions are distinguishable enough for any and all readers, enjoy everyone!

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Theum 'Ripostee shook his head, and glanced down.

Examining the deactivated hilt of an energy sword in his hand, he used his palm to shift its positioning slightly. Slowly wrapping his hand around the hilt, he felt the contours of the carved symbols embedded on the blade. Reading himself for the battle that he knew was to follow, he gripped it firmly and activated it. Holding it to his side confidently, he shifted his legs, taking up a more comfortable and confidant stance. Dimly aware of the sounds of fighting surrounding him, he focused solely on the being standing before him. The Sangheili was tall and imposing, muscled with a graceful shaping. A prideful gleam shone in his eyes. Theum narrowed his eyes at the Sangheili, determined to take him down and claim the honour that would come from such an act.

The Swordsmaster flared his mandibles impatiently, just as the Sangheili standing before Theum activated his own sword and took stance. The Swordsmaster regained his composure and examined the stance of the second Sangheili, Narth 'Mandee, before pausing momentarily. Satisfied that Narth 'Mandee was in a proper position, he decided to let the battle commence. "You may begin." He stated simply.

Immediately after hearing the Swordmaster's words, Narth sprung forwards, unleashing a wide swipe with his sword that was only narrowly sidestepped by Theum. Tightening his grip on the hilt, Theum swung his own sword upwards in a vicious uppercut. Using his sword to knock Theum's blade away from his body, Narth delivered a heavy elbow to his opponent's face, causing him to step back with a stunned jerk of his body. Wasting no time, Narth took a brutal horizontal sweep at Theum, grazing his protective armour coating slightly and causing Theum to jump back again in surprise.

Theum focused more thoroughly this time, observing every detail that he could about his opponent. To his great anger, he also noticed that Narth wore a smirk on his face, standing there and smugly watching Theum. With a shout, Theum dived forwards towards Narth, causing him to fall to the ground in surprise from the unexpected movement. Rolling forwards before standing up quickly, Theum rapidly approached Narth who only barely had enough time to get to his feet before ducking out of the way of an overhead swipe. Now taking the offense, Theum launched a volley of strikes from all angles towards Narth, who could do naught but block and avoid the strikes.

Feigns, swings, chain strikes, and heavy blows continually flowed from the arms off Theum, who could not deny the sense of tiredness slowly creeping through and threatening to overcome his body. Swift blows slowly turned into prolonged sweeps, and the powerful strength and desire for victory that Theum had felt earlier was burning away. Theum put large amounts of power into his attacks, but could not land a blow on the defending Sangheili. Eventually, he was forced to fall back into defence as Narth's attacks took over his movements; dictating his actions and controlling the maneuvers he attempted. Theum could feel himself slowly beginning to weaken his grip on his sword, and knew he could not last much longer. Gathering his final reserves of energy, he quickly knocked a swipe from Narth aside and put all of his strength into one final strike. Bringing his arm up over his head, Theum brought the sword down in a powerful overhead strike… before feeling an iron grip clinging to his arm. Unbalanced, Theum stumbled for a second, before feeling the grip release. Just in time to take a powerful kick to the back of his head.

Collapsing face down in the ground, Theum could not gather the energy required to lift himself back to his feet. Rolling over onto his back, he was immediately greeted by the sight of the tips of Narth's sword pointing at his face. Theum sighed, before letting his head loll back to the rough ground. "I submit." He stated, feeling indescribably weak as the words escaped his mouth. Theum relaxed against the ground, grateful for the momentary break. Taking a few seconds to rest, he finally gathered his willpower and pulled himself back into reality, heaving himself onto his feet.

Noticing Narth having a conversation with the Swordsmaster, Theum walked towards the victorious Sangheili. He would not disrespect a worthy opponent by ignoring him. Approaching as fast as his wounded pride would let him, Theum was able to catch the last fragments of the words the Swordsmaster was speaking.

"…have earned the right and honour to wield the traditional sword, just as your forefathers did before you. May your strikes be swift, and may your foes fall before your might." Theum watched as Narth bowed to the Swordsmaster, then approached him.

"You fought well, Narth 'Mandee. It was an honour to fight you." Theum stated, as politely as he could manage in his current state.

"You too, Theum." Narth stated bluntly. Feeling put off, Theum sidestepped Narth and approached the Swordsmaster, watching as the Sangheili looked away from Narth and glared at him instead. The Swordsmaster's voice was laced with venom. "You have learned nothing of that which I have tried to teach you. You attack without consideration, and let emotions dominate your movements. You will raise no sword against your foes, and they will slaughter you for your lack of honour. Leave me until you are prepared to learn."

Already aware of the outcome of arguing this point with the older Sangheili, Theum didn't even attempt to do so. Turning away from the Swordsmaster and the rest of the training fields, Theum could think of nothing else to do but return to his barracks.

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First entry here, yay. I don't know if this will be confusing to read, my writing style is generally more focused on visual literacy and reflects that. If I make a new chapter, I promise it will be more focused on speaking instead of just fighting. Thanks for reading, everyone. Any critique or feedback would be **greatly **appreciated.

**Edit: **Altered parts of it to make the reading more smooth and less broken-up. Hope this has increased the chapter's readability.


	2. Chapter 2

**Before anything, I would like to thank my reviewer ****Punk-Rampant320 for his helpful input about my writing style. Even if anyone can leave a review with ideas on how to improve my writing style, that would also be appreciated. With that out of the way, enjoy the read! **

An Act of Honour – Chapter 2

As Theum 'Ripostee found himself in the solider barracks, he could think of nothing that he could do to rectify this wrong. He felt empty, like a soulless thing with no purpose. Resting his head in his hands, he thought of the numerous cycles of training that would need to be repeated, all of the arduous time spent learning true Swordsmanship.

Resigning himself to another term of worthless research and sparring, Theum exhaled and sprawled himself on top of his small bedroll. He knew that the Swordsmaster was stubborn and headstrong, and that nothing he did would fix that problem. No argument he made would ever allow him to retake his final test without repeating the proper conditioning and trials beforehand.

Without realizing it was occurring, Theum found himself drifting in to a dreamless slumber, a final respite from the torture and haunting failure that had occupied his day.

* * *

Waking abruptly, Theum spasmed and flailed instinctively before taking a grasp of his surroundings, his eyes taking in an alien darkness. Slowing his breathing and taking a moment to regain his thoughts, the day's events surged into his mind and he was overcome with disappointment. Realizing that he would be unable to sleep with unshakable thoughts locked in his head, he pulled on his skin-tight gelsuit and weakly pulled himself to his feet.

A gentle brightness came from the floor, emanating from perfectly aligned strips of light set at equal intervals. Theum used the purple luminescence as a guide towards his destination, and approached the exit door in the corner of the large room. The opening mechanism on the door twisted as he approached, and as it opened Theum took a step out of the barracks and into the cold night.

As soon as he had cleared the door, Theum felt a rush of cold wind assail him. He was used to the cold, but his gelsuit was not thick enough to provide him with any real protection. Steeling himself against the harsh elements, he set off at a brisk pace towards the training centre not far from his current location. If he was going to have to repeat his training, why not get ahead to ensure this did not occur again?

Theum reassured himself in this logic, and increased his pace. Before long, he could see the outline of a large building in the dim light of the planet's moons, and adjusted his route so that he was heading straight towards it. Soon enough he was at the entrance. As Theum approached the door, he observed quietly as the opening mechanism twisted slowly before parting the door at its midsection. Taking a single glance behind him before turning back to look inside the dark building, Theum stepped inside.

As soon as he crossed the threshold, Theum was assaulted by a wave of light that illuminated the wide building. Theum could not help but feel his breath catch in his throat. Despite having frequented this building in the past for his training, the sheer immenseness and overwhelming space before him never failed to show the true awe of the peak of Sangheili architecture.

Admiring the perfectly set out rows of training equipment and sparring rings, Theum gazed around while trying to decide which skills to focus on first. With a shrug of his shoulders, he decided to forgo a full body warm up and merely rolled his arms and stretched his joints before stepping closer to a nearby weapon rack and taking a sparring-variant energy sword hilt in his hand. Backtracking towards a large square shaped area with a holographic panel in its centre, he pulled his right hand up to meet the panel, tapping the controls on it smoothly and with an experienced hand.

As soon as Theum finished modifying the options of the projector, he took a step back and activated the training sword. Admiring the single blade producing from the hilt, perfect for sparring, Theum glanced up again to see a hologram projection of a sword swinging gently in front of him and he raised his own sword in readiness. Watching as the sword swung towards him in a slow horizontal motion, Theum brought up his own sword to block it. The second that the hologram came into contact with the training sword, it swung back around in a sweeping arc and forced Theum to quickly bring up his blade to block it again.

_They must have upgraded the motion sensors…_ He thought to himself, before realizing the hologram was rushing towards him in an overhead motion, forcing him to react quickly. With each deflected blow, the hologram began to increase in speed until it reached the point where it was a whirlwind of blue light, twisting and feigning in mid-air. Watching as the light swept to one side, Theum shifted his body to better position his sword, only to catch a glimpse in frustration as the hologram flicked under his defences and glanced off his side. With a cry of temporary shock, Theum stumbled off-balance before falling to the floor.

Panting, he regained his breath before switching pulling himself off the ground and deactivating the training simulator.

Still out of breath as he placed his sparring sword back in its previous place amongst the other training weapons, Theum turned his sight back towards the entrance of the training centre with the intention of ending this session for the night. As he took a single step towards the doorway, he stopped dead. Standing there, blocking the entrance, was the large figure of Narth 'Mandee.

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***Gasp*, I don't think this little run in will end well :O**

**OK then, glad that this chapter is out of the road. I've been struggling with different aspects of my writing, as I have been trying to determine what styles and techniques work best for me. I like to measure up my different fight scenes to see which I think works better, and the "honor-obsessed, withdrawn" personality is a hard thing for me to write. Additionally, I have been having a lot of work to complete at school, and this has greatly restricted the time that I have to work freely on the Internet, hence the time it took for me to churn this chapter out. Anyways. Any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated, so go nuts with that. Thanks for reading!**


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